Bank of Korea, Economy 0.2% P ↓... "Growth 1.6-1.7% this year" in the aftermath of martial law

The Bank of Korea estimated that the economic listing rate will decrease by 0.2%p this year due to the aftermath of the emergency martial law in December last year.

The economic outlook for November last year projected growth of 1.9% for the year, but as of this month it was forecast to be downgraded to 1.6-1.7%.

The growth rate in the fourth quarter of last year is also likely to be 0.2% below the previous forecast of 0.5%.

As a result, last year's annual growth rate was also expected to be 2-2.1%, below the previous 2.2%.

The BOK explained that it was the result of a faltering domestic demand, including consumption, due to a contraction in economic sentiment due to the plane disaster amid political uncertainty triggered by the emergency martial law crisis.

In fact, the economic sentiment index in December last year was 83.1, down 9.6p from the previous month.

The figure was the lowest since September 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit 77.4 and the biggest drop since March of the same year, 21.2p.

However, there is a possibility that this year's growth figures will change in the economic outlook to be released in February.

The central bank said whether the February forecast figure will be higher or lower than January will be greatly affected by the timing of the resolution of our political uncertainty, the government's additional stimulus measures and the economic development of the new U.S. government.